New curriculum offers employees opportunities for professional and personal growth

Posted January 10, 2006; 06:28 p.m.

by Ruth Stevens

A new curriculum of learning and development classes for managers
and employees across the campus will be launched in February by the Office of Human Resources.

The curriculum includes a selection of open-enrollment courses on
topics employees have identified as critical to their development as
well as a certificate program for managers who wish to participate in a
more structured learning experience.

"For the past two years, we have been conducting a needs assessment
through focus groups, our regular training programs and informal
feedback," said Lianne Sullivan-Crowley, vice president for human
resources. "This curriculum responds to what employees and managers are
telling us they need to help Princeton support a more motivated,
engaged and high-performing workforce."

The curriculum is based on a holistic approach to learning,
according to Scott Willett, director of learning and development in
human resources. "We're integrating both formal and informal elements
to make sure that real learning takes place and sticks," he said. "The
most effective way to learn and develop a new skill or behavior is to
apply it and practice it on the job and in real-life situations."

The underlying philosophy for the curriculum is based on a formula
of 70/20/10: 70 percent of learning and development takes place in
real-life and on-the-job experiences; 20 percent comes from ongoing
feedback and from working with role models; and 10 percent occurs as a
result of formal training.

A key to the success of the program will be the implementation by
employees of a self-directed learning process that will help them
identify the gaps between where they are now and where they want to be.
"Closing those gaps is the real motivation for people to learn,"
Willett said.

The Office of Human Resources went through its own process of
identifying gaps in preparation for launching the program. While the
office has always had a training component, it began to take a closer
look at its offerings two years ago when Willett joined the staff.

Along with the new learning curriculum, the learning and development
arm of the office provides services in the areas of leadership
development, coaching and advising; talent management; and organization
development consulting and advising. "All along, we've been listening,
gathering information and trying to understand what the real needs
are," Willett said.

In addition to conducting formal focus groups, learning and
development staff members sought suggestions from some recent
initiatives on campus, such as the Diversity Working Group's interim
report and the Institutional Compliance Program's Management Standards
Guidebook. "These efforts helped crystallize the curriculum and
validate for us what people are interested in," he said.

For a final check, the team shared the plan with senior-level
managers and some of their direct reports. "Overall, the feedback was
very positive," Willett said. "We received some great suggestions for
modifications."

The result is a curriculum of some 25 offerings (see list above right)
addressing everything from building trust in the workplace to creating
an inclusive work environment. The classes are open to all faculty and
staff members at Princeton, although some are intended specifically for
managers.

While not required, employees are being encouraged to complete a
needs assessment in advance of registering for classes or any other
learning and development efforts. "At the heart of our learning and
development philosophy is to have people define their ideal self
first," Willett said. "It's going to be different for everybody,
depending on their job and their personal and career aspirations. Then
we're asking employees to compare their ideal self with their real
self. When people see that there might be a gap -- it could be a
technical skill or a type of behavior -- that's what's called 'creative
tension.' That tension is the real motivator for people to learn and
improve themselves. The return on people’s learning and development
efforts will be much greater if they do the assessment first."

On a Web site
launched this month, the learning and development staff provides
several development tools and guidelines, including a fundamental
process to help employees and supervisors establish and maintain an
ongoing dialogue on learning and continuous improvement. "This ongoing
dialogue between learners and supervisors is critical because both have
responsibility to ensure that the entire learning process happens,"
Willett said. Other tools include guidelines for assessing personal
needs. Results from the needs assessment can then be incorporated into
a development plan.

Employees who identify one specific area in which they want to
improve might be better served by taking one or two classes. Those who
aspire to be a manager or a more senior level manager might be better
suited for the management development certificate program.

For the certificate program, employees must take five required
classes and three electives from the core curriculum within three
years. In order to participate, employees must have supervisor approval
and sponsorship. Employees and their supervisors will be expected to
work together through the learning process by discussing the employee's
aspirations, needs assessment, development plan and progress against
the plan.

"For some employees, a certificate program gives them a target and
more of a feeling of achievement," Willett said. "It might help others
be more competitive for jobs, although there is no guarantee."

Most classes in the core curriculum meet once for four hours or less
in New South. While a majority of the courses are offered through the
human resources office, some are provided by other departments, such as
the conflict management sessions run by the ombuds office.

Leading the classes will be Princeton employees who are either
certified facilitators or subject matter experts. Many of the classes
are free, although there is a charge for participants who fail to
cancel without notice. Offerings are expected to change as needs at the
University change and as more advanced courses are requested by alumni
of the basic classes.

The last portion of every class will be devoted to asking
participants to reflect on what they've learned and to choose at least
one behavior or skill to practice when they return to the office.
Facilitators will help participants create a simple one-page action
plan -- based on the 70/20/10 formula -- so they can hold themselves
accountable and share it with their supervisors.

Willett said he hopes that the curriculum will go a long way toward
not only improving the University's workforce and its ability to help
Princeton deliver its ultimate product to students, but also creating a
more fulfilling environment for employees.

"Learning is critical in order for organizations to survive and
thrive," he said. "People must be able to continuously try to learn
what they don't know and to get better at what they're already doing.
We're a learning institution, but are we learning ourselves?

"We also talk a lot about ensuring that this is an exceptional place
to work," Willett said. "So much of the climate of satisfaction relies
on if people feel like they're achieving their own goals and
continuously growing. We hope this curriculum will enable them to do
that."